Luckless, Clueless, Hopeless

QUARTER-FINAL, 2ND LEG

BAYERN MUNICH 3

(Mario Mandzukic 59, Thomas Mueller 68, Arjen Robben 76)

MAN UNITED 1

(Patrice Evra 57)

UK - Bayern qualify 4-2 on aggregate.

It wasn't a humiliation. That's all David Moyes can cling to as he faces up to the grim reality that Manchester United's season has ended before Easter.

With Bayern Munich so rampant in Germany and Moyes' men so limp in the Premier League, most people thought this tie would be effectively over before full time in the first leg.

The fact that they were still competitive with 15 minutes to go is a victory of sorts.

It could have been an incredible night. It must have felt that way 12 minutes into the second half when Patrice Evra thundered a shot in off the crossbar.

But for poor Moyes, the darkest hour always seems to come after the dawn.

In the same way that apparently resurgent league runs are always followed by calamitous home defeats, United's apparently pivotal goals always seem to be teasers for a heart-breaking response.

Remember their last-minute "winner" against Fulham and the way it was followed by an injury-time equaliser?

This was in a similar vein. Poor Moyes. Poor, poor Moyes.

Within 70 seconds of Evra's goal, Bayern were level again through Mario Mandzukic.

Nine minutes later, they were losing thanks to the extraordinary movement of Thomas Mueller.

And then, with 14 minutes left, Arjen Robben cut in from the right and smashed a third goal home with his left, a thoroughly predictable method for a thoroughly predictable conclusion.

But for all the pluck, discipline and rotten ill fortune, there were very real reasons for concern.

It was a justified gamble to field Wayne Rooney, even with his injury.

But to leave him on until the final whistle was an extraordinary decision, or perhaps "indecision".

Rooney was clearly out of sorts.

In the first half, he was presented with the ball in the penalty area but proceeded to dawdle and wander with such waywardness that he looked like an indecisive picnicker looking for somewhere to lay his blanket.

After the break, Danny Welbeck teed him up for a shot on goal and Rooney scuffed it well wide, before hurling a volley of abuse at Welbeck to hide his guilt.

While United defended so well that David de Gea didn't have a save to make in the first half, they were unimaginative at the other end.

POOR

Michael Carrick was anonymous, Welbeck snatched at the ball, Darren Fletcher looked lethargic.

There was no base upon which to build an offensive and there were no forwards capable of sustaining one anyway.

There was fight, there was a composure of sorts and Moyes will be grateful that there was no capitulation at the end, but this rarely looked like a clash of the titans.

It looked far more like an FA Cup tie between an off-colour Premier League team and a workmanlike side from the Championship.

And that's the real problem.

While Brendan Rodgers was able to point at green shoots of recovery in his troubled debut season at Liverpool, Moyes has very little with which to inspire hope.

United don't play good football. Their most typical pass during the game was from de Gea to Welbeck, a sign of their direct approach.

They don't have a crop of young players who need patience to fulfil their potential.

United are a fractured unit, comprised of unwilling or incapable veterans and a smattering of relatively young players unable to rise to the challenge.

Moyes said he always felt United were in with a chance, which was true.

There is certainly no shame in being narrowly beaten by Bayern either.

But it is all but impossible for United to secure Champions League football for next season.

To prevent the kind of decline that has hampered Liverpool, disabled Newcastle and obliterated Leeds United, they must return to the competition swiftly.

The only question is whether the board will trust Moyes to do the job.

Right now, for all the effort on display in Bavaria, there isn't a lot of evidence that they should.

All season they've failed in big games against big opposition, except maybe the Arsenal (English Premier League) game. They seem to lose the big games and they need to rectify that.

- Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher on on Manchester United "I thought at times he was having a struggle striking the ball on some occasions. But he is so vital a player to us, especially with Robin van Persie out (injured)." - United manager David Moyes (above) on Wayne Rooney (right)

BY THE NUMBERS

5 Bayern are into the semi-finals for a third year in a row. They have reached 10 European Cup or Champions League finals and won the title five times.

9 Bayern coach Pep Guardiola has not lost in nine home games against English clubs as a player and coach at Barcelona.

65 per cent The possession Bayern have against Manchester United. That is down from their Champions League season average of more than 70 per cent.

This article was published on April 11 in The New Paper.

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